Why Leclerc didn’t give up Mexico GP lead after cutting Turn 5
by Ben Vinel · AutosportCharles Leclerc has detailed the reasoning behind his and Ferrari’s decision not to yield the lead after he illegally overtook team-mate Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc has delved into his controversial Mexico Grand Prix drive, more specifically the way he snatched – and retained – the lead from Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc challenged his polesitting team-mate for the lead at the start, with Hamilton holding him off over the first sequence of corners. The Monegasque then launched an attack around the outside of Turn 4, but while he was ahead at the apex, both cars went deep and ended up fully off the track.
Hamilton trundled back on track, losing a position to Max Verstappen, while Leclerc cut Turn 5 and stayed out in front. Having gained a lasting advantage from exceeding track limits, he was expected to let the sister car back through, but that would have entailed giving up a position to the Red Bull too.
In the end, Leclerc remained ahead of his rivals, copping a five-second penalty for the infringement.
“Lewis and I both tried to brake very late, we both didn't make the corner, I obviously cut the track,” the Monegasque recounted.
“Eventually then after Turn 5 there was Max in between, which made the situation more confusing. And speaking with the team, I didn't really have a clear feedback, and I think it was just confusing enough to keep the position, and I was expecting some kind of penalty. Then we paid the penalty.
“We spoke briefly with the team to try and understand [what to do]. I asked ‘What should I do now?’ It's always very tricky – obviously in that situation you have to do something, but is it second, is it third? At the end I kept going. Obviously it's going to be a bit of a talking point, for sure, next briefing.”
The decision drew the ire of Hamilton, who repeatedly complained to race engineer Carlo Santi on the radio. “The problem is he's got clean air, and doesn't have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the place back,” he said of Leclerc, before doubling down: “The stewards are basically handing Charles this win.”
Regardless of Leclerc’s controversial move to retain the lead, the intra-team incident came amid occasional friction between the Ferrari drivers this year.
Consequently asked about the rules of engagement at Ferrari, the 29-year-old played the situation down: “I mean, we are fighting for the win, so of course there's going to be very little margin left from him and from me. [In] the end, we both did a mistake going into Turn 4, it's not like we had contact or whatsoever. We both went straight and that gave the opportunity for Max to overtake.
“I don't think it should be that much of a talking point. Of course it was close, Turn 1 to 3 was very close, but I was expecting it, [in a] fight for the lead. For [Turn] 5 we both made a mistake, I paid with a penalty, then you can argue whether it's enough or not. And Lewis then paid out of [Turn] 5 with Max.”
Pressed on whether he and Hamilton needed more rules going forward, Leclerc pondered: “We will talk about it obviously. I don't know if he was very unhappy with what I did because I felt like it was very much on the limit also what he did. I think he was maybe more angry with the whole situation, how the situation was dealt in [Turns] 4-5 with the penalty, etc. So this is something we'll talk about for sure.”
From then on, Leclerc worked at pulling away from Verstappen in an attempt to mitigate the impact of his penalty. He brought the gap up to 5.243s at the end of lap 24, but by the time he pitted – with the Red Bull following him into the pits – the Dutchman had cut his deficit by a few tenths.
In the end, this made no difference to the outcome. Leclerc’s pitstop was 6.3s longer than Verstappen’s, with 1.3s unaccounted for by the penalty, so the four-time world champion comfortably took the lead.
Leclerc’s race went from bad to worse at the second start, following the red flag for Valtteri Bottas’ crash, with a hefty lock-up that damaged the SF-26’s tyres – especially the front-left.
“I think we had quite a good pace, but unfortunately on the second restart everything went a bit more difficult,” he lamented.
“There was quite a lot of marbles on the right side of the track, and when I went on the brake, even though I didn't put a massive amount of brake pressure, I locked up straight away and I went to the cord of the tyres. So the last stint was very tricky.”
Leclerc consequently ended up fourth under the chequered flag – still scoring a sixth consecutive top-four finish.
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